


Breaking Rules

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mass Effect 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 10:03:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6978862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a run-in with a thresher maw, Shepard isn't quite herself. Fortunately, she provides her teammates with plenty of entertainment regardless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When the Mako came to a stop in the shuttle bay, Kaidan’s brow furrowed. It was smoldering, had two flat tires, and, upon closer inspection, had a giant hole burned into the hull. Even before he could fully comprehend the damage, he heard banging emanating from the inside of the vehicle.

“Stand back,” came Wrex’s familiar roar. Kaidan was quick to step aside and well away from the battered Mako’s door, which had apparently been melted or fused shut. No sooner had the lieutenant stepped out of the way than the door was blasted off of its hinges with the force of a battering ram.

It was the krogan’s head that Kaidan saw next, glancing around the bay quickly. Once his gaze locked on the human, Wrex waved him over. “Come get her. She’s hurt.”

There was only one ‘she’ in the group that had dropped groundside a couple of hours ago, and a lump formed in his throat at the thought of her being seriously injured. He cleared the distance to the Mako in two quick strides, preparing to climb up on top of it and haul Shepard out himself if the need arose.

“Get off me! Argh dammit!”

Well, she wasn’t unconscious, at least. Shepard was putting up a hell of a fight against the krogan and turian trying to help her out of the vehicle, though. It all struck Kaidan as very strange, but he was willing to hold his questions for now until he could get a good look at the commander for himself.

“Shepard, damn, stop flailing.” Wrex muttered as he pulled at her arms to haul her out of the Mako.

“I hate thresher maws,” Garrus commented, his words half-muffled in the skirmish with Shepard. “Ow. Shepard! For the love of–”

“I said get off me!” She was furious and, as her torso cleared the hatch, her head lolled back as though she had little control over her movements. Wrex continued to drag her out while Garrus pushed her kicking legs clear from inside the vehicle.

Kaidan’s warm gaze roved over her form, trying to pinpoint the problem. As she squirmed in Wrex’s grip, he saw that there were several holes in her armor along the chest. He reached his arms up to catch the commander as the krogan handed her off, careful to avoid her wildly-flailing legs.

“Thresher maw acid?” Kaidan asked, his brow knit with concentration as he got a better look at the holes in her armor. Something had certainly melted it, and from the looks of it, had gone all the way to her flesh.

Shepard continued to writhe and squirm, but she abruptly stopped when her gaze locked on his face. “Hi Kaidan. I feel like I’m on fire,” she whimpered.

“Okay, Shepard. Okay. Let’s get you out of the armor so we can treat the wounds,” he said as he reached up and began unlatching plates, opening seals. She wasn’t much help, barely keeping her own balance and staring him with an intensity that made him feel a little self conscious.

“Lieutenant, are you taking advantage of me?” she asked, her eyes going out of focus even before she’d finished the question.

“What? No!” There was no stopping the heat that rose to his cheeks at the accusation. His hands stilled as he debated what to do, but the pained hiss that escaped her spurred him to continue removing the armor despite her insinuation.

“Oh. She doesn’t fight you,” Wrex observed once he and Garrus escaped the smoldering Mako at last. “We gave her a lot of medigel for the pain. She’s a bit loopy now.”

“Are you guys okay?” Kaidan asked, trying to fling Shepard’s arm over his shoulder so that he could better support her weight and get to the bottom latches of her chest plate. She, meanwhile, had her head tipped completely back and was staring at the ceiling.

“More or less,” Garrus answered. His stance was hunched and he was taking slow, careful steps. “I thought she was a bad driver before. I’ve never experienced it when there’s thresher maw acid in her veins. I think next time I’d rather take my chances on foot with the thresher maw.”

“Hey,” Shepard demanded Kaidan’s attention. “Your eyebrows are incredible.”

“Uhh…” The lieutenant knew his face was likely glowing bright red now, particularly as she swept her nimble fingers across his brow and down the side of his face. “Thanks?”

“Why doesn’t Garrus have eyebrows?” She sounded so disappointed. It was difficult for Kaidan to stifle his laughter and concentrate on removing the armor of an uncooperative but ailing woman.

“Shepard, I don’t have any hair at all. Anywhere.” Garrus said.

“Tragic,” the commander said as she glanced down to see Kaidan still fumbling with latches near her hip. She smiled and ran both of her hands through the lieutenant’s dark strands. “This is amazing.”

Wrex laughed harder than Kaidan had ever heard him laugh before. The lieutenant himself didn’t quite know what to do. He was momentarily paralyzed with indecision. Certainly the acid or the medigel were affecting her better judgment, but he was rather intoxicated with the feel of her fingers raking across his scalp. This wasn’t exactly how he might have imagined such a thing to happen, but she was right. It was amazing.

He’d managed to free her of enough armor to get a good look at the wounds. They were relatively superficial, but he imagined that the condition was incredibly painful. He didn’t dare to touch them just yet for fear that she’d punch him in the face as she’d likely done to Garrus and Wrex. “How about we go to the med bay? We’ll be able to make the burning stop.”

She was still touching his hair as the words registered. “I’d do anything for you if you could make that happen.”

“Oh, I should record this,” Garrus commented, his mandibles flaring with amusement.

“Don’t you dare.” Kaidan cleared his throat. “Okay, Commander. Let’s go.”

“Okay, handsome” she answered, following his lead as they turned in the direction of the elevator. Though her arm had been draped across his shoulders as they slowly began to walk, it drifted away until it rested lightly on his behind.

Kaidan shook his head, thankful that his back was now to Garrus and Wrex, who were laughing uproariously. She was going to be so mortified if she realized how she’d been acting. He certainly didn’t have the heart to tell her…

…or admit that he kind of liked it.


	2. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard wakes up and realizes that she's done some horrible, embarrassing things and does not take it well.

A pained groan escaped Shepard’s lips before she even realized she was waking up. Her fingers instinctively reached to investigate the various small spots across her torso that burned with ferocity. She didn’t have to open her eyes to realize that they’d all been covered with dressings to keep them clean and spur healing.

She pressed her palms to the bed in order to push her aching body up and into a proper sitting position. Her head was pounding and the bright lights of the med bay did little to bring her comfort.

“Easy, Commander,” came the calm, reassuring tone of Dr. Chakwas.

“How long have I been out?” Shepard struggled to piece together what had landed her in the med bay in the first place. Had she encountered another prothean beacon and knocked herself unconscious?

“It’s only been about two hours since you and your ground team returned to the Normandy. I’ve heard that it was quite a fight with a thresher maw.”

“Ah. Yeah. That,” Shepard responded. She remembered most of it, but things got a little hazy after the Mako was sprayed with acid a couple of times. “Are Garrus and Wrex okay?”

“They’re perfectly fine, Commander. No need to worry.”

The sound of a door opening caught Shepard’s attention, bleary-eyed and groggy though she was. It was as her gaze settled and focused on her lieutenant that the color drained from her face. His, meanwhile, flushed slightly once he noticed she was awake.

“Dr. Chakwas, this has been great and everything, but do you have something stronger?” Shepard inquired, tearing her eyes from Kaidan to focus intently on Karin.

“For the pain, you mean?” the doctor replied before her gaze flicked to the monitors. She hadn’t noticed much out of the ordinary to create cause for more medications.

“Something that could put me to sleep. Forever.” Shepard clarified.

Dr. Chakwas chuckled. “I try not to make a habit of administering comas for fun, Commander.”

“Fantastic,” she responded dryly. “Where’s my gun, then?”

The doctor glanced in the lieutenant’s direction, though he did little more than shrug his shoulders. “I hope you’re not intending to shoot me or the Lieutenant. I hardly think that would be in your best interests.”

“Oh no,” Shepard responded, running her hands through her hair in exasperation. “It’s for me.”

“Umm…” Kaidan quietly intervened. “Dr. Chakwas, would you mind giving us a minute?”

The doctor nodded as her gaze flitted inquisitively between the two, but she offered them both a sympathetic smile and took her leave of the room.

“Would you mind bringing me a gun while you’re out? Any gun will do…” Shepard called out after her as she made considerable effort to avoid looking the lieutenant in the face. She turned her gaze instead to her omni-tool, where she furiously tapped away in search of something.

“I hope you’re–,” Kaidan said as he stepped closer.

“Kaidan, I’m an awful person and I’m sorry,” Shepard blurted a little too loudly as she continued staring intently at her omni-tool.

“What? You’re not–” he responded, eyes wide.

“Don’t worry, I’m already filling out the paperwork.”

“Wait… what paperwork?” Kaidan bent lower to try and get a clear look at her face, likely intending to force her to lift her gaze. She was still strangely pale, but she refused to glance in his direction.

“Your transfer.”

“You want me transferred?” The shock in his voice and expression was enough to cause her to finally lift her eyes to meet his. She was sure that it was the reason he’d come to her in the first place. After the completely inappropriate behavior she’d displayed toward the lieutenant, accidental or not, there was no question that she’d overstepped her bounds and that he should rightfully have a better assignment.

“Well, I can’t exactly transfer myself. I’m commanding the ship.” She paused for a moment, gauging his reaction carefully. Was he forlorn? He couldn’t have been. She’d grabbed his butt, for crying out loud. “Besides, I think you’ll want to be off the Normandy when steer it directly into the nearest sun.”

“I’m guessing you’re upset about your rather… colorful… return after that last mission?” There was a mix of sorrow and discomfort written in his features, and Shepard knew she was the cause. He deserved better than that.

“I was so terribly, horribly out of line. I hope you can forgive me. I completely understand if you don’t want to head out on any missions with me. It’s okay if you never want to be in the same room with me or on the same planet or in the same orbit after this. God, I’m so sorry.” If she typed any harder on her omni-tool, she was going to break it or her own arm.

“I’d prefer to stay, if that’s okay.” It was his turn to avoid eye contact, it seemed. “I’m a medic, Shepard. I know weird things happen when someone has too much medigel. It’s fine. I’m sure you didn’t mean any of it.”

In a matter of seconds, her face went from pallid to flushed completely red. The entirely bewildered, slack-jawed expression that accompanied it was missed for only a moment until the lieutenant dared to glance upwards. When he did, he seemed to have interpreted the unsaid words and he froze. She wanted to scream that she meant none of it, but it would have been a ridiculous lie. Medigel was apparently equivalent to a truth serum for Shepard.

“Oh,” he muttered quietly.

“Oh my god this keeps getting worse. I’m an idiot.” She grumbled incoherently for a moment as she closed her omni-tool and turned, slowly, to fully face Kaidan. Extending a hand to him, she continued. “Let’s start over. Hello, I’m Commander Shepard, and I’m turning command of the Normandy over to you because I’m going to go launch myself out the airlock.”

He took the hand that was offered and then covered it with his own, a gesture she found to be alarmingly reassuring and sweet. “Nice to meet you, Commander Shepard. I’m Kaidan and I’m going to need you to calm down.”

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him, noting that he didn’t use his title or refer to her as ‘ma’am.’ She was skeptical and suddenly very confused. The expression must have been rather evident because he laughed.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you enough times to call us even now,” he calmly continued. “I’d like to remain on the Normandy, if you wouldn’t mind. We still have plenty of work to do.”

He released her hand and took a step away, rolling his shoulders back and standing straight. He was gorgeous and Shepard was mortified that she was still acknowledging the fact. Worse, she had dared to let it slip out loud. She was the worst commanding officer in the Alliance. Of that there was no doubt.

Kaidan offered her a polite nod and made motion to walk out the door. Before it slid open, however, he paused. “Once we handle all this business with Saren and have a bit of shore leave, though, maybe we can go over what happened one-on-one. I might even let you run your hands through my hair again.”

Shepard couldn’t have heard him right. That was the boldest thing she’d ever witnessed cross his lips. She couldn’t see his face clearly, but she could have sworn he was smirking. He left the room with a confident gait, leaving her sitting in the med bay, mouth agape and flabbergasted.


End file.
